I just got a big gorgeous 20" iMac anmd haven't stopped playing with the software since! :lol: It has a built-in iSight camera (very high quality webcam) and a great application colled PhotoBooth which lets you take pics and video and if you want, apply all sorts of affects. Needless to say... this is just too much fun to be believed. This is such a GREAT computer; highly recommended.

Very cool camera. I can see you pretty good, but it's hard to make out the pics of the pets.
And as stated before, you were just like I imagined as well!

17th February 2006, 06:47 PM

Karlin

:lol: Well my hair is up in these ones; I'll have to do some normal pics with the dogs with hair down as well. Though you do feel odd looking at your computer taking pics.

18th February 2006, 02:04 AM

Cathy T

How weird is that??!! Just today I was thinking that I've never seen a picture of you. The picture that came to mind was of the bike with the carrier strapped to it. I pictured an anonymous person riding it. How fun to finally see you!!!

18th February 2006, 11:07 AM

Bruce H

Hey that really looks like fun! Don't you just love getting a new computer? Come on, Karlin, how about a real picture; the rest of us have put our mugs up for the rest of the world to see :lol: Although I do seem to remember seeing a picture of you quite some time ago when you were on vacation.

I was beginning to think I was the only person left on the planet with a Mac. I've been looking at those new laptops with the new chip and drooling, but my current laptop is only 3 years old (Hmmm, what would that be in dog years?).

18th February 2006, 01:18 PM

Karlin

Yes I did post a pic here of me on the Great Wall (somewhere on the board) so there was a previous pic as well. :lol: I also have my byline pic somewhere but think it is on my Mac laptop which is in for a repair right now. A byline pic however doesn't really fit in the 'cavaliers and their owners' section. :lol:

Well I can give a major thumbs up to the 20" iMac, just a lovely computer and such great software. Also this is the first bunch running on Intel chips which means it may well be able to run Windows natively once Vista -- the next version on Windows -- is released at the end of the year.

Laptops generally have shorter lives than desktops. A desktop is pretty elderly at 6 years or so (not just the spec but the internal bits get pretty worn and you can expect disk failures etc for example, so backups are really important). Laptops tend to get replaced every 3-4 years by a lot of people -- they take more of a battering and parts are more sensitive too. If I were you and you want to stay on Macs I'd wait til this summer to replace as Steve Jobs says that will be when most of the Mac line transitions to the dual core Intel chips (which amazingly run as quietly as the PowerPC chips. Anyone used to the noisy hum of a PC, which needs fans to cool the chips, will be pretty amazed at the silence of Mac. You'd hardly know it is running. I LOVE that). My own feeling as someone who works on Macs and PCs and writes about the industry is that Macs at this time despite the price difference are much better value than PCs -- mainly because of the software and what is included on an iMac as normal spec!! The iLife software is the best package I know of for managing your pics, music and video; it is the easiest and best s/w for making DVDs and editing them, and kids (not to mention adults) just love the musicmaking program Garageband. Also now included are some really nice website templates with iWeb and then really fun stuff like Photobooth. Plus iSight is wdely acknowledged as one of the highest spec webcams available and it is built in, while iMacs also include wireless as standard, Bluetooth as standard, DVD/CD writer as standard... the only people who should really question getting a Mac are those who need some of the PC only apps or who are rabid gameplayers (or just feel happier on Windows!). Otherwise this is such a superior package esp. for families (and I stress I do like both platforms, Mac and PC; the value is just so much better on a Mac).

Interestingly Macs may also be the wave of the future in that they will be the only computers that will be licensed to run all operating systems. It will not be much longer before you will be able to run Win on Mac architecture as noted (already you can install Linux alongside either Mac OS or Windows for example). I'd guess within the decade the idea of buying a computer to run one OS only will seem very odd. And because of the way Apple controls the Apple OS, it means only Macs will have the ability to run Mac OS. Right now on the old PowerPC Mac chips you can buy a programme from Microsoft that emulates a Windows environment within the Mac *anyway* -- and this works quite well. Now with Intel chips this will be even easier to do for Microsoft.

Well that's the end of my spiel! :lol: I just find the possibilities very interesting for the future, where owning a Mac is likely to give you the MOST flexibility in using operating systems rather than a 'minority' system. Bruce you'll easily get aother year or two out of your laptop but if you want to move earlier, the new PowerBook Pro is out with Intel chips and the rest will follow over the year.

I can add in the iMac's favour that setting it up involves ONE powercord. That's it. And four steps.

1) Take one-piece iMac out of box (the computer is entriely contained behind the screen so there IS no other computer taking up space on your desktop except the screen on its stand)

2) Plug in powercord to iMac and power outlet.

3) Plug keyboard into back of iMac (it swivels, making this very easy!)

4) Plug mouse into back of keyboard, where there are two USB port.

You are now done and can turn on the machine. Time elapsed: 2 minutes.

8th March 2006, 03:53 PM

Linda

Karlin

I just noticed this post, and it is nice to put a face to the knowledgeable
gal who started this board.

You do not look anything like how I pictured you. (No Offence)
But I think that is the case for most of us, trying to put a face on someone
we don't know. I have to agree with Bruce though. icon_whistling icon_whistling icon_whistling icon_whistling